Floor device



Feb. 11, 1.941. A. c. GONZALEZ FLOOR DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct.25. 1938 A. C. GONZALEZ Feb. 11, 1941.

FLOOR DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 25, 1938 INVENTOR.

Patented Feb. 11, 1941 UNITED STATES scissor@ 2,231,385 mi 2i en i ..-aer' PATENT OFFECE 6 Claims.

My invention relates primarilyto an improvement on the original floordeviceshown in my U. S. Patent No. 2,085,215, but it has, `as willappear, application to other devices having'two members designed to beheld tightly together at `their meeting edges. In the floor structure ofthat patent, the floor may, if desired, be assembled in sectionsindependent of the foundation or sub-floor, `and when laid will have the10 quietness and resiliency of a carpet, and `have a wearing surfacehaving the hardness and sanitary properties of a washable type'of hardfloor. My improved floor comprises wearing surface members of suitablelhard material, such as plywood, compressed wood, metal, marble, tilesor synthetic compositions, assembled so as to `cover the entire wearingsurface of the floor or section thereof; flat resilient members cementedor glued to the undersurface of the wear membersyand composed of anyresilient material, such as felt or insulation board, the dimensions andarrangement of the resilient members 'being the same as those of thewear surface members. In such a floor structure it is important that theedges of the individual floor sections be capable of being laid downindividually, or in assembled,

part-floor, groups, and be adjustable toward each other to bring theircontiguous edges into close contact and so bind them together as to makein effect a unitary structure, as to its wear surface. To this end Iprovide latches or fastening strips of metal, or the like, riveted orotherwise fastened between the wear surface and the resilient members soas to permit the free compression of said resilient members at theiredges, when the floor members or sections are locked into or fastened toeach other. These floor members, or sections comprising a pluralitythereof, are laid upon the foundation or subfloor of cement or othersuitable construction, the latter being first preferably rendered wateror moist-proof by any suitable water-proofing composition.

The invention also comprises other features which will be more fullydescribed in the following speciiication, and set out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings which illustrate one embodiment of myinvention by way of example,

Fig. l is a plan view of a portion of a floor constructed in accordancewith my invention, and

` Fig. 2 is a top View of a portion thereof to a larger scale.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view also to an enlarged n 13, if used, is spread.

scale of two floor sections taken on line 3--3 of Fig. l.

Other uses for the interlock latches shown in Figs. 4, 5,6 and 7.

Fig. 4 is an elevation of the single hard wearing surface type of floor,without the resilient slab underneath, the view being taken in thedirection indicated by the arrow, Fig. 2.

Figs. 5 and 6 are an elevation and horizontal sectional view7respectively, the direction of sight 10 of Fig. 6 being indicated byarrows, Fig. 5, `of a wall panel, showing the manner in which theinterlock latches would be mounted on the panel and on the 'studdingdiagonally to the perpendicular.

Fig. 7 is a sectional .View Asimilar to the left side of Fig. 3, showinga wood-parquetry wear surface, the line of sight being indicated by thearrow, Fig. 2.

In the form of the invention shown in Figs. 20 1 to `4, I is` thewearing surface member made up in slabs of sections; 2 mastic cement forjoining the slabs or sections, or a member made up .of several suchslabs or sections, to a resilient member 3 underlying the wear surfacesI. 25

are

`Il areinterlocked latches and 5 rivets for fastening the latches to thefloor slabs.

6 is the sub-floor over which the resilient floor material 'I is alocking border plate serving as retaining border for the oor. 8 in- 30dicates the assembled floor section unit carried by foundation oor I.

In the application of my invention to a Wall structure, the sameconstruction as that described for the floor may be used or it may be asexhibited 35 in Figs. 5 and 6, in which a vertical series of theinterlocking latches d are fastened alternately to the edge of a wallpanel or section I and to a supporting beam or post, as for example thestudding II), the latches on the panels and stud- 40 ding being in thesame plane when the panel is applied to the studding. The assembly issuch that the downward drift of the wall panels will cause their edgesto be strained together' by the wedging action of the latches, while thebeveled 45 form of the meeting faces of the latches will cause thebringing of the several panels or sections to a common plane under theweight of the panels.

The oor device comprises the sheets or sec- 50 tions I of suitable hardand durable wearing material or a plurality of materials such as wood,metal, marble, or synthetic composition, closely assembled over theentire surface of the floor. Preferably, however, for convenience andrapid 55 as those of sheets I of the wear surfaces.

handling these wear surfaces are assembled in sections, each sectionbeing made up of a plurality of sheets I closely assembled as shown inFig. l. Immediately underlying the wear surfaces I are sheets or strips3 of resilient material, such as felt or insulation board, thehorizontal dimensions of the sheets 3 being the same The members I and 3are fastened together by any suitable mastic cement or glue 2 which isapplied to one or both of the contacting surfaces, and the members I and3 are thereupon preferably pressed together so as to make a firm unionbetween them, and form a united oor section 8.

The members I are fastened together and held,` level by means ofinterlocking bevelled latches` 11 of non-corrosive metal or the like,riveted at 5 or otherwise fastened through the.mem

bers I, the holes therefor in the membersl being preferably countersunk.Thus the wear surface of each section 8, is locked and held as a singleunit by interlocking the latches 4, protruding out and at an angle fromaround the four sides of each oor section 8. The resilient members 3 arepermitted to yield under weight as a cushion,

vertical movement thus being allowed to the floor. 'Ihe entire floor ispreferably built up by combining a number' of the members I and 3 toform integral sections 8, of convenient size, which are then assembledupon the foundation or sub-floor 6, after a suitable water ormoistureproof coat has been applied to the sub-floor. The sections 8,are fastened together and securely held in place after laying, by thecountersunk locking latches in border 1, holding the contiguous sides ofthe adjacent sections 8.

The cement or other sub-floor 6 is preferably smoothly surfaced, thoughslight irregularities in surface will not be detrimental to the properoperation of the floor.

In Fig. 7, I show a floor section comprising a layer Ia of closelyassembled slabs of suitable hard surface material, supporting tiles,mosaic or parquet designs Ilo made of any suitable product, cementedonto said hard surface material la and forming together the wear surfaceI. A layer of slabs 3 of resilient material individually underlies andis cemented to the supporting slabs Ia of hard surface material and areof horizontal dimensions to the Wear surface slabs. In this instancealso, interlocking latches or clips 4 protrude out from the edges of allfour sides of the slabs so as to lock into the latches or clipsoverhanging the edges of the adjacent slabs.

1. Means for connecting together the parts of buildings and otherstructures at their meeting edges, comprising likel parallel bars,fastened in pairs in contact with each other, and in the same plane, todifferent adjacent members of the structure at approximately equalangles, with the two bars of each pair extending diagonally to themeeting edges of the members to which they are secured, the bars beingbevelled to effect strain normal to the surface of the structure inaddition to that effected in the plane thereof.

2. A building or like structure having a wall comprising studding andseparate panels or sections, held to the studding with their edges incontact by latches in the form of paired bars lying in the same plane,fastened diagonally of the edges of the panels, alternately to a studand to a panel, in which the latches on adjacent panels and the latcheson the studding paired `therewith are at reverse angles, convergingdownwardly.

3. A building structure, comprising two panels contacting at their edgesto form parts of a plane surface, as of a wall or oor, and a pair ofrigid bars., mounted on the structure in one plane parallel to the planeof the panels, parallel to each other and contacting with each other ina line oblique to the contacting edges of the panels, so that said edgesengage with a shearing action.

4. A building structure as set forth in claim 3, comprising a pluralityof pairs of rigid bars, each pair constructed and mounted as therein setforth.

5. A building structure as set forth in claim 3, in which the two panelseach has mounted upon it one member of the pair of bars.

6. A building structure as set forth in claim 3, in which the two panelseach has so mounted upon it one member of the pair of bars that the barsextend in opposite directions across the meeting edges of the panels.

A. C. GONZALEZ.

